Welcome to the Coastal Rainforest Research, Wildlife Conservation & Community Projects blog, where you can keep up to date with all the projects and information from GVI in Costa Rica

Global Vision International (GVI) is a non-political, non-religious organisation, which through its alliance with over 150 project partners in over 30 countries, provides opportunities for volunteers to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development.

Facts and Figures Quepos Community Project

Ongoing education support to over 330 primary school students within 2 local schools (2011-2012)

227,400 hours of Primary School students hours taught (2011-2012)

Over 1700 hours of English classes taught to adults and secondary school students (2011-2012)

Volunteer led English lessons with the 5 best students in each grade within the structure of El Cocal Primary School and Maria Luisa Primary School in Boca Vieja.

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Ok, so the other day a few of us in the group based in Jalova at the moment were privileged to be able to speak to loved ones via Skype, by taking a weekly boat trip to the nearest town, Tortuguero!Everyone was really excited, hoping to pass on news about how many turtles we'd seen on turtle walk, their sheer size, if we'd counted the eggs of a laying turtle, any exquisite birds we'd seen or crazy little monkeys that sometimes decided to throw branches at you!

We were all hyped up, arriving in Tortuguero at around half eleven, to find that the Internet place wasn't yet open.As a few of the cafes don't open until midday, we collectively decided that the Internet cafe would follow suit and open at twelve, so to fill the time we decided to fill our bellies at a really nice local restaurant!As usual, the guys wanted to eat pure slabs of meat and so opted for the steaks and the girlies went for the slightly healthier options!!Anyway, the food was scrumptious!!

To get back to the subject, we went back to the Internet cafe and to our dismay found that it was still closed and discovered that it was to stay closed all day due to being Easter.Everyone was devastated that they couldn't get the chance to speak to boyfriends/girlfriends, friends and family, so the day seemed to drag.

As can be imagined, the boat trip back to base was pretty quiet due to the circumstances of the day, but we were enjoying the dense jungle views and bird sightings along the canal.Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to understand that you're literally in the middle of the rainforest!!!Anyway, our quiet reflecting was disturbed by a piercing shriek from Sonja, although upon turning around to the direction of the scream it looked like it could even have possibly come from Joao (a guy!) from the elated expression on his face!We could all see the excitement and disbelief on Joao and Sonja's face but their words were incoherent apart from the word, 'Jag', so we simply followed the direction of their pointing arms!!!Appearing around the corner and coming into focus was a jutted out log on the edge of the canal with a jaguar only leisurely stretched across it!Everyone was in a state of hysteria, grabbing for their cameras and being incredibly vocal, when usually we are so quiet so as not to disturb the cool animals we see.Tina, one of our resident budding photographers, leapt to the front of the boat and started incessantly snapping the photographs, probably stripping her fingers of skin, but it was all worth it because her photos are fantastic!After the initial shock of seeing the jaguar, everyone was silenced in awe of the tremendous, powerful, yet beautiful feline we were observing, lying in a relaxed state before our very eyes.As the boat neared the creature, it felt like an eternity and the mutual eye contact between the jaguar (the beauty of its eyes was indescribable!) and ourselves was fascinatingly intense.At this time was when we could really take in what we were seeing and it was a unique moment.One striking image that remains in my mind was the size of the paws of this creature and its obvious strength, yet what overpowers that was its pure elegance.As the boat got within a few metres of its hangout, the jaguar slowly stood up and silently retreated back into the rainforest, turning back once to give us a final farewell.It seemed apparent that everyone had stopped breathing during this encounter as suddenly the silence was deafened by huge sighs and exhalations of air!The expression on every single one of our faces was of sublime joy and disbelief, along with huge grins from ear to ear! (Photo by Tina, gallerytinaphotography)

After never even expecting to see a jaguar here, or at most to see a flash of one, the fact that we saw one in its fully glory was astounding!This is without a doubt an image and memory that will be retained for life!

2
comments:

Amanda Broome
said...

You lucky buggers! That is an amazing experience...why oh why didn't I quit my job and stay on! I can just imagine how hyped and enthusiastic everyone is now after that encounter! How wonderful for you all! Great photo Tina! What a stunning animal!

quotes from the field...

"The work carried out by GVI Costa Rica makes a vital contribution to conservation and scientific research and personally speaking, I am proud to be able to say that I played a part in this project."
Michelle Miller, 10 Week Volunteer

"Having a truly incredible time here at Caño Palma. Every day here is amazing and brings exciting new things to see and do."

"The location is brilliant, the people are great and the wildlife is fantastic. So far I’ve seen green turtles, two-toed and three-toed sloths, coral snakes, a vine snake, green iguanas, basilisk lizards, a Neotropical river otter, caiman, crocodiles, strawberry poison-dart frogs, howler monkeys, spider monkeys and white-faced capuchin monkeys to name just a few!"

"I also see loads of beautiful birds every day, including the two stunning species of toucan found here."

"I’m enjoying everything we do here but some of my favourite things so far have been the grueling 15 mile Jag Walk, climbing the rainforest-clad Cerro (hill), and of course the ever exciting turtle night walks."

"Getting to count a turtle’s eggs whilst she lays them is a real privilege, which I’ve been fortunate to experience twice so far. Measuring a turtle, helping tag and doing the body check are also great to do, even if you do get covered in sand and occasionally whacked by a flipper!"

"Walking through the rainforest and traveling along the canals are other things I love doing here, as the scenery is wonderful and you always see some really interesting things."

I can’t really think of anything bad to say about this place, even the frequent rainstorms, the humidity, the early mornings and being woken by screaming howler monkeys just adds to the experience, and it’s certainly worth being filthy and covered in various insect bites to be here.

I can’t wait to see what other amazing experiences 5 more weeks in Costa Rica will bring." Alex Page from the UK, Expedition Member from July-September 2008

“I was impressed with the level of professionalism of the GVI staff, who were helpful, enthusiastic and clearly passionate about the work they do here at Jalova. I have had a wonderful time and feel inspired to use the knowledge I have learnt in the classroom. Thank you very much." Mrs Ali Omell, Turtle Project Volunteer